Pretty Helper
by Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed
Summary: Ones Shots of Renji and Ururu having moments while he stays at Urahara's shop.
1. Pretty Helper

Pretty Helper

By

Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed

**Word Count: 451**

**Characters: Renji, Ururu**

**Word: Help**

Renji was beginning to feel the effects of his injuries quite clearly now that the adrenaline had worn off. He been hurt worse than he thought, Renji mused as he slid off the upper part of his shinigami uniform. Blood-caked cloth tore at the deep gash on his back. The haori had dried into his wound, crusting itself into his skin. He felt a warm trickle slide down his back and he cursed himself for reopening the wound. He tugged a little harder, pulling the black and white cloth free, but in the process the entire gash on his back reopened, drizzling blood over his hand. He spoke a few choice words out loud, thank no one else was home.

"Gomen, Renji-san," a quiet voice came from the doorway. Renji turned in time to see Ururu's pink cheeks deepened a little in color at the sight of him without his shirt on and duck her head back out of the door. "Gomen nasai, I didn't know you were..."

"Ururu, its fine," Renji said after a moment.

"You're bleeding," the girl walked into the closet he called a room and knelt down next to him.

"I'm fine," Renji frowned at her.

"You're hurt," Ururu stood, walking out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded shinigami behind. Renji frowned to himself and brushed off the small girl's appearance as mere curiosity. He went back to work on tending his own wounds. The patter of slow moving feet alerted him that she was in the room again. He looked up to see her balancing a large bowl of water, towels and gauze in her arms.

"Let me help," she said, stepping toward him.

"I said I was fine," Renji retorted, scowling at her as she sat down behind him.

"Let me help," she said once again, hands already working a wet sponge gently across his back.

"No...Okay," Renji finally relented, secretly glad that one of Kisuke's followers seemed to care for him. He let himself relax as she carefully cleaned and bandaged his back. She moved on to his minor wounds, carefully cleaning every one.

"Finished," Ururu chimed shyly, standing and wiping her hands on her skirt. She began picking up the leftover supplies she had brought. Renji stopped her hand as she reached for a bloody towel. She looked at him, confused.

"Thank you," Renji said quietly, looking away from her, embarrassed by the way he had acted earlier. Ururu blushed again and Renji caught a small smile before she ducked her head. "You know, you're kind of pretty when you smile," he said, patting her head.

"No one's ever said anything like that to me," Ururu whispered, her head still bowed. "Arigato, Renji-san."

"Dou-itashimashite, Ururu-chan."

* * *

AN: Yep, that took twenty minutes to write. Go me. First Bleach fic, so be sort of kind to me. Review if possible.


	2. Like Rukia

Like Rukia

By

Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed

Word Count: 620

Time: 52 minutes

She reminds him of Rukia, he thinks as he pulls his rough fingers through her shiny black hair. Barely, but something about looking at Ururu always draws his mind to Rukia. It is her determination, he decides. He knows there is a difference though; Rukia is as loud as hell and half the time he has no idea Ururu is even nearby. Still, they both are filled with determination and it scares him.

Tiny, fragile, and full of fight; it isn't easy to tell looking at Ururu, but once someone close to her is hurt she becomes a totally different person. She becomes completely convinced that whoever she is fighting is an enemy and has to be destroyed. Heck, it would be funny if she wasn't so damn scary.

Now, as he pulls her hair back away from her face, tangling her long bangs into the French braid she'd shyly asked him to do, he wonders if the young girl knows of her likenesses to the shinigami he often thinks about.

He notices the physical similarities, too. Ururu would never be anything but tiny, like Rukia, she was barely taller than the broom she continually swept with. He can't even imagine her trying to tote around a zanpakuto or something, despite the fact he knows she is very strong and very capable of handling herself in battle.

Her eyes are another thing that keep him distracted. Blue: just like Rukia's, but so different at the same time. Rukia's eyes are round and they always seem a little surprised, but Ururu's are almost worrisome to him. She always looks close to tears, no matter how happy she might be and they droop at the sides, making her seem sad and somehow distant. He never likes to think about things deeply, for some reason it makes him feel uncomfortable and tense, like he isn't meant to think about anything other than the here and now. Her eyes give him the impression that she likes to think and probably about a lot of things he doesn't understand.

Rukia never thinks things out first. She is bullheaded and does what she likes. He loves her for it, but he knows that she acts like an idiot when she goes on like that.

He begins twisting the long black strands at the base of her neck into the tail of the braid. Rukia and Ururu are really nothing alike, he finally decides as he secures the bottom of the braid with one of her pink hair ties. Rukia is headstrong, loud, and insensitive. Ururu is quiet, shy, and caring.

Rukia is Rukia and Ururu is Ururu. He doesn't want either one to change for the world, but aside from that, he is glad he's had the chance to know both of them, because now as she smiles at him, in that meek, embarrassed manner of hers and thanks him politely for taking the time to braid her hair, he merely waves it off, saying that it was nothing and goes back to trying not to think too hard.

He knows he loves Rukia.

He also knows she loves him.

He knows it's a different love from his and he's come to accept that.

He just doesn't know if he can love another.

Ururu comes back into his small closet space with a box of bento and a pair of chopsticks a few minutes later. She bows again and he tries to ignore the little half smile she always got when she thanked him for something. He watches her as she exits the small room and looks down at the bento.

Ururu just wasn't the same person as Rukia.

But...

Maybe that was a good thing.


	3. Apologies

**Apologies**

**By**

**Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed**

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, yay me.

Word Count: 533

Characters: Renji, Ururu, Kisuke, Jinta

Summary: Renji being all Big Brother-ish…I don't write Kisuke well, sorry.

He supposed he should be happy she'd stopped going to him for comfort. It was childish and weak, but the small part of his soul that was somewhat paternal missed it. It wouldn't have been so bad--heck, he probably wouldn't have even noticed it--if it hadn't been for Abarai.

The lieutenant was beginning to aggravate him. He was always in the way, he ate all of their food, and he kept getting hurt in battle. Kisuke was sick of spending his time training the pansy if it wasn't going to do him any good.

But he could handle Renji not caring what he did, said, or thought about him, but taking Ururu was the last straw.

Jinta, being the insensitive little punk he could be, made her cry. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence and no one thought much of it; no one--except Abarai.

The red head shinigami frowned at the smaller boy as Ururu ran into Kisuke's assuring arms. Renji glanced at the small girl and put his hand on Jinta's shoulder, glaring down at him and looking almost impressively intimidating.

"What did you do to her?"

"Nothing," Jinta frowned, glaring up at Renji, but looking nowhere as menacing. "She was bein' a dumb girl."

"First of all, girls are not dumb," Renji frowned, squatting to the boy's eye level. "Second, that's a stupid reason to hurt someone's feelings."

"She deserved it!" Jinta exclaimed, looking at the ground.

"No she didn't," Renji dropped his hand from his shoulder. "You and I both know that and I think you should apologize to her."

"What? No," Jinta shook his head. "She was bein' all sensitive and junk. It was completely her fault!"

"You haven't said what she did yet, Jinta." Renji reminded him. "You'll have to tell me what she did do to receive that treatment from you." The shinigami eyed the boy. "Unless she didn't do anything..."

Jinta tried not to look guilty and was doing a pretty good job.

"You aren't just picking on her because you're bigger, are you?"

Jinta's face twitched.

"Because you know that I'll have to kick your ass if that's the reason."

"You can't do that!" Jinta argued, face red with indignation.

"Well, I think anyone who treats a girl badly for any reason deserves to have their face shoved into the dirt."

Renji failed to notice the big blue watery eyes that turned to stare at him in wonder. Kisuke frowned a bit, but did nothing but pat Ururu's back as he watched Renji.

"So are you going to apologize?" Renji asked seriously, finally looking over at Ururu. Jinta frowned, but forced out an awkward apology to the little girl. Ururu wiped her eyes and nodded at him, accepting it.

"Looks like I'm done here for the day," Renji patted the little girl's head and gave Ururu a wink. "Don't let him hassle you so much, okay?"

"Yes, Abarai-san," Ururu's head bobbed slightly and her pink cheeks reddened a little more, but that was usual around Renji. At least she didn't thank him this time, Kisuke thought with a slight sigh. If she got too attached he might have trouble saying no to her.

* * *

End. 


	4. Used to This

Use to This

By

Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach, lucky me.

Word Count: 117

He could use to something like this, Renji decided as he returned the little girl's hug. He'd never really had anyone to protect or anything. 'Cept Rukia, but she was pretty good at taking care of herself most of the time. Rukia was never the sentimental type. The closest thing to a hug he ever got from her was a sock to the jaw--not that he was complaining. It was just that--as tough as he was--he enjoyed the feeling that someone actually cared enough to say goodbye to him, even if it was only for a few meaningless hours.

He wasn't getting soft in any way. Not a chance.

He just liked the attention.

* * *

AN: Well, this is just to tide you over until I decide to write my next one, which I've had stuck in my head for a week. I'll try to get it up in the next few days. Until then, review please! 


	5. Stormy Night

Word Count: 684

Time: 23 minutes

**Stormy Night**

By

**Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed**

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to get this up (and its not even that great)! Work and lack of sleep contributing to this a lot, I guess. Hey look, it's almost two in the morning and I'm typing up some fan fiction…nice. Anyway, I'll update this again soon and I'm working on an update for **_**Student Teacher Relations**_** if any of you even read that one. I can also promise a few Bleach one shots that I have partially typed up….one is even a Halloween-based story (One or two parts, I'm not sure yet). So, please, read and review! Forgive the mistakes, it's late folks.**

* * *

The spiritual pressure was what woke him, Renji decided as he stared blurrily at the doorway, wondering just how long she had been cowering there, trying to come up with enough courage to wake him up. Renji pushed himself into a sitting position and bit back a yawn. He motioned for Ururu to come into the room.

She did, slowly. Ururu's large eyes were more watery than usual and Renji surmised that she was afraid of the storm since her hands were unconsciously clenching at her oversized night gown each time thunder rattled the shop's windows.

"Ururu," Renji drawled out, looking at her curiously. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, Abarai-san. I am sorry to have bothered you." Ururu's voice trembled as a bright flash of light illuminated the room through the open door. She blushed and turned to flee, "I'll go!"

"No, no," Renji caught her arm to stop her. He frowned, pulling her back. "It's okay if you're afraid of storms, Ururu." He let go of her and reached across the floor to grab a t-shirt to pull on. "Does Urahara usually let you sleep with him when it's stormy like this?"

"No," Ururu whispered, looking at the ground as he pulled on the wrinkled shirt. "He doesn't know."

"He probably does," Renji finally let out a yawn. "Your spirit energy shoots up when you are frightened. I'm surprised he's never said anything about it."

"Mr. Urahara says that wants me to conquer my fears by myself."

"That's nonsense," Renji rolled his eyes. "What kind of idiot feeds that kind of idealology to a kid?"

Ururu stared at him, surprised he'd say that about Mr. Urahara.

"Ururu, if you're still scared, you can sleep here." Renji scooted over a little bit, making enough room for her. "I really don't mind."

"Are you sure?" Ururu asked, timidly scooting closer. Renji didn't have a chance to answer before another the building shook again with a close roll of thunder. She flew into his arms, shuddering.

"Hey, you really are scared," Renji said in surprise, wrapping his arms around her. "A tough little girl like you afraid of a storm, huh?" He smiled at the flustered look that appeared on her face. "Don't sweat it, 'Ru. Everyone's got to be afraid of something and, if, for you, it's only a storm that scares you then you've got something pretty good going on."

"Really?" Ururu spoke up, surprised by his words.

"Yeah, you're a pretty tough girl," Renji said, settling down to go back to sleep. He felt her body shift down so that she was lying next to him, her back close to his chest. He pulled the blanket over her. "And if you want to be afraid of something, then go ahead and be afraid of it. I won't think any less of you. Everyone's afraid of something."

"Oh," Ururu snuggled back into her chest a little and let silence take over the conversation for a few moments. "Renji-san?"

"Yeah?" Renji voice was already thick with sleep.

"What are you afraid of?"

There was a moment of silence before Renji answered.

"Ikkaku Madarame."

"He seems so kind," Ururu protested, turning to look at the red head.

"He's a good man," Renji confirmed, smiling at her. "He was the one who taught me how to fight. He's part of the reason I'm as strong as I am, but he promised me, that if we ever meet in battle again, it will be to the death. He's always been a man of his word, and I don't doubt that he would kill me. He's much stronger than I am."

"That's not true," Ururu frowned. "Strengths lie in many different places, not just in power."

"That's right, thank you," Renji nodded, laying his head down and changing the subject before his thoughts wandered more. "Now get to sleep, I'm not going to stay up all night listening to you throw a ton of philosophy talk at me."

"I'm sorry, good night, Abarai-san." Ururu closed her eyes, not seeing the small smile that plagued Renji's lips.

"Good night, 'Ru."

* * *

Fin. 


	6. Shopping Ain't All It's Cracked Up to Be

Shopping Ain't All Its Cracked Up to Be

By

Psycho-neurotically Disturbed

* * *

Renji stood holding the plastic basket in the crook of his arm. How had he gotten into this dismal situation? Urahara: of course. The prick thought he would be 'put to better use' shopping with Ururu than training.

Ururu was a cute kid, Renji had to admit, but shopping with her was taking its toll. He'd been standing in the grocery store with her for almost an hour and she had only selected four things to purchase. He didn't know if it was just him, but he couldn't think of a single thing he'd ever eaten that included oyster crackers, unsweetened white chocolate, beef bullion cubes, and a bottle of Joy.

He cleared his throat, getting the young girl's attention immediately. She stared up at him, her big blue eyes looking as if they were about to overflow with tears, but Renji had been around long enough to know that they were always like that and she rarely cried unless provoked. He had no trouble looking past them to ask her: "What is all this crap for?"

Ururu's eyes seemed to wobble and her bottom lip jutted out a little. Renji involuntarily took a step back, unprepared for her already sad look take a turn toward heartbreaking.

"I mean," Renji gave the little girl a half smile and knelt down to look at her. "Why are you buying all of this stuff?"

"Uh," Ururu's eyes flew to the basket, taking in what was in it. "The soap is for all of the extra dishes I have to do now that so many people stop by the shop to eat. Unsweetened white chocolate is Tessai-san's favorite candy. Jinta-chan will only eat soup if there are oyster crackers in it." She blushed suddenly, looking to the ground. "And I got the bullion cubes for you, Abarai-san."

"What?" Renji was surprised. Everyone at Urahara's shopped seemed to find him a nuisance and ignored him as much as possible. He couldn't understand why she would do something for him. "Why?"

"I noticed that you asked for all the extra flavoring for your ramen last night."

He was taken aback by the thought that she would notice something like that. Renji liked his noodles to be coated in the thick beefy goo that resulted from a little water and a lot of packaged seasoning.

"I want you to be happy, Abarai-san." Ururu was still looking at the ground. "I know Kisuke-san likes to be mean to you sometimes."

Renji stared at her in wonder, having no idea how to respond to a comment like that. "I, uh," he paused his train of thought and focused on getting a complete sentence out. "That's very kind of you, Ururu. Thank you for thinking of me."

"Its fine," Ururu's cheeks flamed again and she placed a box in the basket. Renji watched her as she quickly turned away, skirting down the aisle containing paper goods. He looked down at the basket, then back up at her retreating figure.

"Ururu," he called, walking after her. "You have to tell me; who are the dog biscuits for?"

* * *

AN: Yep, another random one shot for all of my deserving fans.


	7. Just a Walk in the Park

Just a Walk in the Park

By

Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed

Ururu was certain Abarai-san was an angel sent from heaven to help her on her way. Well, maybe 'angel' was a bad comparison since he was neither celestial nor glowing and seemed to come off as a bit coarse and a little boorish.

He still seemed like he was too good to be true every time she saw him. For her there was always a pat on the head or a string of words she presumed was meant to be kind.

Today was one of those days.

Today he asked to go to the park.

Reason: he'd never been there.

So now, licking a strawberry ice cream cone, she sat on a swing and watched as Renji happily licked his. The look of pure ecstasy on his face was enough to make her smile.

They were silent for a few minutes, pushing their feet against the ground just enough to get the swings moving. Renji finished his ice cream and looked expectantly at Ururu. She had her eyes down as she licked tentatively at the melting ice cream. She looked like she was deep in thought and the shinigami didn't want to bother her if she was.

Ururu was deep in thought, but she did notice Renji waiting for her so she lifted her head and gave him a small smile. Renji returned it and stood, holding out his hand to help her off of the swing.

"Let's take a walk, Ururu-chan." He let go of her hand as she fell into step beside him, setting the pace. He let her brood over her thoughts again, taking that time to lead them onto a jogging path that looped its way around the park.

It was a nice looking park, as far as Renji could guess. There was a large grassy area with benches and a playground, trees providing much-needed shade on the path they were on, and as they walked he noticed there were several statues placed throughout the park. He stopped to read one of the descriptions on a plaque, but found no interest in it at all.

"Ururu-chan," he called gently, staring at the stone face of a kind-looking man who just so happened to be dead. Big surprise. He turned to look at the small girl. "What are you thinking about?"

Ururu was taken aback but his sudden question. Why would Renji care what she was thinking about? She blushed and ducked her head, becoming timid, something that Renji was now used to whenever he spoke to her. "Ano…I was wondering what you were going to do after you're done here."

"You mean after we defeat Aizen and everything?" Renji ran a hand hesitantly over his hair. "I guess I'm going back to the Seireitei and resuming my post as lieutenant of the sixth division. That's my job, after all."

Ururu nodded, staring down of the dusty path, "That's what I thought, Abarai-san. You don't have a reason to be here any longer."

Renji almost agreed, but when he saw the look on her face he frowned. "With Ichigo and Rukia messing up around here I'm bound to come back all the time. So don't worry so much, Ururu. You'll see me again after I leave, I promise."

Kind words.

Renji grinned and patted the girl's hair, mussing it a little.

A pat on the head.

Ururu smiled lightly, and licked at her now melted ice cream. She liked it when he made promises.

He wasn't the type to break them.

* * *

AN: Wow, I feel bad. I haven't updated for almost a month. So, I'll put another one up very soon! 


	8. Understanding Renji

Understanding Renji

Part 1

By

Psycho-Neurotically Disturbed

Byakuya Kuchiki was not known to be the most understanding of men. Of course he understood things, but he did not truly understand anything that was below his status. It seemed too trivial for him to accurately place any kind of lower-class nonsense into his head such as the favorite color of Shunsui Kyoraku's lieutenant or Captain Hitsugaya's favorite food. Of course, his own lieutenant was form the 78th district in the Rukongai and he was bound to have to understand things about him to get along with the boy.

Slowly but surely he began to understand the slang and mannerisms that Renji used. He didn't apply them himself, that would be underneath him, but he allowed it of Renji because people seemed to like him as he was and as long as Byakuya knew what the boy was blabbering on about it did not effect him negatively at all.

He may comprehend a few things about Renji Abarai, but that didn't mean he knew him at all.

Byakuya still did not understand why he had caught the lively redhead alone in the kitchen of Urahara's shouten with a petite girl, talking to her as he stuffed his face with a peculiar looking substance. He didn't even consider Renji pleasant enough to hold an audience with anyone, let alone a child, but the girl looked tremendously thrilled to be of any service to the young shinigami judging from the heavy blush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes.

As he stood in the doorway, Byakuya saw Renji's hand reach into his jacket pocket and remove a small bag of lemon drops and deposit them in the girl's hands. Byakuya raised a brow as the girl's blush deepened and a corner of Renji's mouth lifted in a smile as she stuttered a thank you and quickly left the room, leaving a trail of surprisingly powerful spirit energy in her wake. Renji chuckled to himself as he took another bite of the green substance in his bowl. Byakuya thought it the correct time to make his presence known.

"Renji," Byakuya's mouth almost twitched as his lieutenant's head shot up in surprise. The captain stopped concealing his reiatsu and stepped into the room and stopped beside his subordinate.

"What are you doing here?" Renji spat out brusquely. Byakuya chose to take the blatantly rude question as something along the lines of curiosity.

"I was asked to come here by the soutaichou to check up on things."

"Like what?" Renji asked, standing up with his now-empty bowl. Byakuya watched as he turned on the sink and proceeded to wash the bowl.

"Mostly to make sure that you and third seat Madarame Ikkaku don't completely destroy the town among other things," the captain said superficially. "But I see that you are doing no harm here besides courting a girl much younger than yourself."

Renji almost dropped the bowl in his hands, "What are you talking about?"

"That girl," Byakuya nodded towards the door Ururu had left through. "You seem to have taken a liking to her, haven't you?"

"So what if I have?" Renji looked genuinely confused. "She's a good kid."

"You gave her candy," Byakuya gave Renji a look that made the boy wonder if giving out candy actually meant something much different to the noble.

"Yes, I gave her some candy," Renji repeated, wondering where Byakuya was going with all of this.

"So you're making your intentions toward her known?"

"What intentions?" Renji was beyond bewildered by his captain's talk. "I just gave her some candy!"

"Exactly."

"And giving candy to a girl means…?"

"That you have intentions towards her."

"That's what I don't get! What intentions am I supposed to have to give someone candy?"

"You've obviously been wooing the girl for quite some time. Have you known her long? You seem quite comfortable around each other. Perhaps you met her on a previous trip down here?"

"You think I've been…"

"Of course."

"And just because we're familiar with each other…"

"Yes."

"That means we're dating?"

"Is that what it's called now?"

"Yes," Renji was baffled by his captain and stared at the older man for a moment. "That has to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard you come up with."

Byakuya's mouth turned down a little as he looked at Renji. "I don't understand. Explain."

"Giving gifts to women doesn't mean you have intentions for them these days. Girls just like to get presents and I like to give them to Ururu. She's a nice girl and I like her. That's why I gave her a bag of candy. I am not making any kind of intention known other than letting her know that I appreciate it when she does something for me."

Byakuya was silent. Giving gifts of appreciation did make sense. "She likes you."

"Of course she does. No one else is really nice to her around her except that perverted Urahara and I'm sure you know what he acts like." Renji finally managed to put his dishes up and looked at his captain. "You know, I think you should take more trips to the living world. You don't know a thing that goes on around you unless it's some sort of that fancy crap that no one else cares about."

"So you're saying," Byakuya said after a moment's contemplation, "that you think I should come down her to check up on you more often?"

"Hell no." Renji shook his head. "Just relax and don't things so seriously."

"You mean be more like you?"

"Well, yeah."

"I'll decline," Byakuya looked at his subordinate and lifted a brow. "So what were you eating?"

"Jell-O," Renji chuckled. "Want to try some?"

"I think I will."

* * *

AN: Two stories in one day and this one is going to have a part two. Also, I lke Byakuya alot, so don't think I have anything against the dear soul. 


End file.
